Lap Definition
- Conditions of great affluence or material comfort:
an heiress living in the lap of luxury.
- to cause to be someone's property or responsibility
- surrounded by luxury
- beyond human control or power
- to take up (liquid or liquid food) by lapping
- to eat or drink greedily
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Lap
- the lap of luxury
- drop into someone's lap
- in the lap of luxury
- in the lap of the gods
- lap up
Origin of Lap
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From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap") from earlier Middle English wlappen (“to fold, wrap"), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap"). from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn"). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace"), Danish dial. vravle "to wind", Old Italian goluppare "to wrap, fold up" (from Germanic). More at envelop, develop
From Wiktionary
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From Old English lapian, from Proto-Germanic *lapajanan, akin to Old High German laffen (to lick), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (spoon). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick"). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln.
From Wiktionary
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Old English læppa (skirt or flap of a garment), from Proto-Germanic *lapp-, confer Middle Dutch lappe, Old High German lappa, German Lappen, Old Norse leppr (“lock of hair").
From Wiktionary
The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.
From Wiktionary
Middle English lappe lappet, lap from Old English læppa lappet
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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Middle English lappen from lappe lap, lappet lap1
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English lapen from Old English lapian
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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